Quote:
Originally Posted by rricci
In all fairness to the NIMBYs, which I'm the first to criticize, I think this uninspired design is more a result of the economy than of any near-neighbor opposition. They opposed the height and lost - we got the height. I doubt highly they opposed balconies or eye-catching architecture. In any case, inspired or no, I'm very excited about this project and the vitality it is bound to add to this section of CCW. I only hope the retail space doesn't sit like a big gaping cavern like the Murano's ground floor.
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This part of town can use another decent supermarket, in addition to Trader Joes at 22nd and Market. I doubt, however, that the Sansom street neighbors would stand for food delivery truck traffic, not to mention dumpsters. Don't know why this is so. It seems that in NYC, there's a Food Emporium or D'Agostino's in the parking deck of every new apartment or condominium tower. Is Philadelphia's NIMBY resistance to sharing a block with a supermarket something to be proud of, or just provincial paranoia?
A supermarket was part of the "Opus" plan for the old Penn Center Inn site at 20th and Market. Now, it's owned by Brandywine Realty (with big pockets), and there's a Salove Company sign on the lot advertising retail space. Something's up. Maybe a supermarket will be tolerated there because it's a larger, commercial lot.